Gummed-tape-moistening machine.



s. BROWN. GUMMED TAPE MOISTBNING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, 1913.

' 2 sums-sum? 1.,

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

2:; 1 u; ll: 'Lii' mlm IN 5 e 5% Z 155% 'T .2 H 4 ljggl... 6

WITW'ESSES: 1.1m 'mv 1'01.'.

Samuel Brow/2 SAMUEL BROWN, 01 ST. L'OUIS, MISSOURI.

s Y PATENT OFFICE.

GUMMED-TAPE-MOISTENING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. I Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

I Application filed November 3, 1913. Serial no. 798,916.

To all whom itmay concern: v

Be it known that I, SAMUEL. BROWN, citizen of the United States, residing at St.

' Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gummed Tape Moistening Machines, of

which the following is a full clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part site sides to guide t e same in the unrolling hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in gummed-tape moistenmg machines;

and it consists in the novel details of con-- etruction more fully set forth in the speciradial arms as shown and of a. length to fication and pointed out in the claim.

Inthe drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan of the machine, with parts broken away; Fig.

2 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 22 of Fig. 1.; Fig. 3 is a vertical crosssection on the line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a' vertical cross-section on the line 4% of. Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is. an enlarged vertical: sectional detail of the members forming the passage-way for the tape opposite the apron carried by the rear wall of the water-tank.

The present invention is directed to ma-, chines inwhich strips of papergumnied on one side are automatically moistened on the; gummed side with the withdrawal of the paper from the machine, the paper being; usually in-the form of a roll rotatably mounted on a spindle, and from which any. length of strip .may be pulled off and severed. Such moistened strips are used for sealing packages and bundles in business and eommercialhouses, as well understood in the art. I

The object of my invention is to provide means for so directing and guiding the strip after it leaves the roll, that the end of the.

strip left projecting above the moistening roll after a given section has been severed, will not come in contact wlth sald roll, so

that the end of the paper will always be dry, and when seized by the clerk for purposes of pulling orreeling off the next section, it will not stick to the nngers or tear off by being Weakenetb as a result of absorption of an excess of moisture.

The advantages of the structural features will become apparent from a detailed description of the invention which is as follows.

Referring to the drawings, 1, 1, represent the side basal members of a suitable supporting frame, the same terminating at one end .e, e, of the heads or spiders 5, 5', which engage the roll of ta I e or paper h from oppothereof, the tape or strip being gummed on the under side or that facing the bottom of the supporting frame. The spiders or heads- 5, 5, are preferably composed of a series of engage the entire face of the roll mounted between the heads. heads is provided with a set-screw s by which, when the head is once adjusted along the spindle, the said head ma be clamped to the spindle. The boss 6 of the opposite or yielding head 5 isprovided with a socket (5 for receiving one end of a compression spring 7 coiled about the spindle, the oppo site end of the spring being in engagement with a ring 8 slidable' along the spindle and provided with a set screw 8 by which it may be clamped to the spindle when once properly adjusted to cause the spring 7 to impose the desired pressure or tensionon the head 5' bearing against the roll. The ring 8 is preferably provided with a reduced portion 8" about which the spring is coiled, the end of the spring bearing against the annular shoulder formed on the inner face of the ring proper around said-reduced portion.

Mounted across the Water tank 4, and supported by trunnions 9 resting in bearings 10 peripherally and longitudinally grooved cylinder or moistening drum 11, the grooves m serving to pick up the necessary water to moisten the tape or strip as the latter is passed over the drum in the withdrawal thereof from the roll. S anning the drum 11 at a point rearward o the axis of rotation thereof, and secured to the sides of the tank 4, is an inverted-U-shaped frame 12, to the upper horizontal member of which is secured the cutter-blade or knife 13, or equivalent cutter. The rear upper portion ofthe periphery of the moistening drum is protected by an apron 14 secured to the upper curved extension of the rear wall of the water-tank, the apron lying close to the drum in standards 2, 2, for the support of the The boss 6 of one of the I formed on the side walls of the tank, is aand operating to spread a film of water over and across the section of the drum immediately beneath the free edge of the apron, said film being spread effectively across the full width of the gummed surface of the tape as the latter is pulled over the drum (the drum rotating freely in response to the tape advanced thereover).

Disposed across the machine between the rear extensions of the side walls of the tank 4, and immediately behind the rear wall of the tank are cross-bars or rods 15, 16, respeetively, the rod 15 serving as an anchor for the fixed end of a flexed resilient shield or guide sheet 17, the end secured to the rod said wall and guide sheet.- The upper end of the rear wall of the tank has formed across the same a substantially angular groove a, tits free end,of the guide-sheet be-' to pass between the lip u and the front wall of the groove, and in its passage between the I parts, the strip is more orless gripped, and

deflected away from the apron 1 1 and from the drum .11. A strip gummed as heretofore pointed out is more or less stiff and resilient, and when bent from its course'and then released, it tends to recoil or spring back to its original position. It is this recoil which is taken advantage of in the present invention, thereby dispensing with the necessity ofspccial devices for moving the strip away from the moistening drum after the severing of any section of paper from the roll.

One arm of each head 5, 5', is extended sufiiciently toreach the rod 15, the heads being turned on the spindle so as to bring these arms into locking engagement with the rod. In practice the ends of these arms are provided with'jaws w which embrace the portion of the sheet 17 folded about the rod, and thus lock the heads to the rod. and prevent rotary dis-placement thereof.

By the construction as described, the head 5 which engages one face of the roll h becomes firmly locked to the spindle 3, the opposite head 5' being in yielding contact with the opposite face of the roll according to the degree of tension imposed on the spring 7, it being ossible to regulate this tension by a proper s ifting of the ring 8, and thusregulate to a nicety the friction under which the paper is allowed to unwind from the roll. The tension should be so regulated that in below the upper horizontal member of'the' frame, said rod insuring the retention of the free end of the tape (which is to be seized by the fingers of the clerk) in front of the frame, and within-reach reach when occa-' sion arises to use the tape.

The operation is substantially as fol lows :-The roll of paper or tape being 5, 5 (which are adjustable on the spindle to accommodate any width of tape between them), the end of the tape is brought under the rear end of the guide-sheet 17, thence through the passage-way between it and the rear wall of the tank 4, thence pulled over the apron 1.4 and drum 11 (which "dips into the water in the tank 4). of the tape is thus moistened, and when a sufficient length has been unwound, the tape is lifted against the knife edge and severed by a. deft lateral movement across the edge of the knife 13. The small projecting por tion of the tape or stub d (Figs. 2, 5) left unsevered between the lip u and the knife is practically dry (the apron 14'. having prevented contact thereof with the wet drum 11) and being comparatively stiff, it tends to assume a direction which it would natu drum, so that the free end of the tape is al ways left practically dry and does not stick to the fingers when the nextsection is drawn from the roll. It will thus be seen that the ]')0I1T12111G11l3 retention of the end of the tape from off the wet drum is due solely tothe recoil of an inherently resilient strip or tape. and no special devices are resorted to to pull or move the end of the tape away from the drum. Of course, a tape of limp material, or too limp to sustain its own weight without dropping would not operate successfully with the present machine. In that event special devices would have to be resorted to to more the end of the tape away from the drum. v

By tape I do not wish to be limited to mounted on the spindle 3, between the heads The gummed side nu es? any particular width of paper or other ma terial, the expression contemplating any sheet supplied from any source (a roll or otherwise). -Neither do E Wish to limit myself to the precise structural details here shown. For example, the apron 14 may be formed as an "integral extension of the upper curved end of the rear wall of the Water tank, instead of forming a separate strip as here shown. Again, the width of the sheet 17 need not necessarily correspond to the full-width of the rear wall of the tank. A ain, the groove a need not necessarily be angular in erosssection', so long as the wall thereof cooperates with the terminal of the guide sheet 17 in such a Way as to tend to direct or permanently hold deflected the free end of the tape away from the moistening drum (and apron 14:).

Other changes might be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.

In Fig. 2, the different positions of the tape are illustrated, via, (1) that showing the tape passed over the moiste'ning drum; (2) that showing the tape in the act of being severed by the cutter; and (3) the stub 03 left projecting beyond the lip wandautd matically recoiled from the drum 11. The rod 12 prevents the stub from passing behind the frame 12 should it have any tendency to do so.

Having described my invention, What I claim is i In a machine of the character described, a liquid container, a moistening drum thereon, an apron secured to one of the container walls and spaced from the drum, a resilient guide-sheet for the tape spaced from, and positioned outside of, the container Wall carrying the apron, and forming a passageway With said Wall for the traverse of the tape, the wall aforesaid being provided with a groove disposed across the path of travel of the tape, the guide-sheethaving a portion bent toward said groove and terminating at its free end in a lip bearing against a wall of the groove whereby the tape passing between said well and lip is constrained to move or is normally directed away from, the apron and from the moistening drum, means for securing the opposite and fixed end of the guide-sheet across the path of travel of the tape, a cutter disposed lengthwise across the drum and above the same, and at a suitable distance from the apron and above the outlet from the passage-Way aforesaid, the

parts operating substantially as, and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two Witnesses.

SAMUEL BROWN.

Witnesses:

JNO. E. BROWN, EDWARD SEBASTIAN. 

